BenQ demonstrated its BW1000 prototype blue-laser DVD burner at the recently concluded Computex 2005 and the company plans to start volume producing the product in the first or second quarter of 2006, depending on how quickly the market for blue-laser products develops.

The BW1000 features writing speeds of 2x for Blu-ray single-layer and DL (single-sided double-layer) discs, 12x for DVD+R/-R, 4x for DVD+R/-R DL, 4x for DVD+RW/-RW, 32x for CD-R and 24x for CD-RW, as well as reading speeds of 2x for Blu-ray, 12x for DVD and 32x for CD, according to BenQ.

Single-layer Blu-ray discs will have a storage capacity of about 25GB while DL versions will have a capacity of 50GB, so the BW1000 will target high-density applications such as HDTV (high-definition TV) recording and playback, the company stated.

BenQ also showcased two DVD burner models (DQ60 and DW1640) at the show, with the DQ60 being BenQ’s first three-format (+R, -R and -RAM) drive. The DVD drive also features drag-and-drop data recording, so burning software is not necessary, BenQ pointed out. The model will be launched at the end of this month.

Although BenQ began volume producing the DW1640 last month, the company added -R DL writing functionality to the model presented at Computex, BenQ indicated.

In related news, Toshiba displayed a prototype HD-DVD (high-definition DVD) player model at the Computex show.

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